The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns - International ...

Downtown Toronto and downtown Vancouver are in a different position to the other case studies. This could be due
to a range of factors, such as their size, economic conditions, land constraints, established residential populations, or
local life style preferences. These two municipalities have not had to go to the same lengths to attract new growth to
their downtowns. In fact the City of Vancouver has had to place limits on residential growth in the core. A recent
report on the competitiveness of Toronto’s office market by the CUI, was also critical of a trend that has seen a
depleting number of sites for office developments in the downtown. 6 Moreover both cities are leveraging private funds
from new developments rather than providing financial incentives to attract growth. Each have benefited from private
investment in community facilities, public realm upgrades, parks, public art etc. This is an ideal scenario, yet it is still
important that both municipalities continue to invest in their downtowns to strengthen these communities for years to
come.
Overall there is no one ‘right way’ for a City to invest, yet it seems that many of the downtowns which are receiving
both large and small scale public investments are seeing some of the most significant transformations. Moreover the
impression emerging from dozens of interviews with private developers is that they are motivated to invest in the
downtown if they see a City Council consistently prioritizing the core, showing high levels of both vision and
commitment to a variety of investments over a sustained period of time. Therefore having a comprehensive range of
investments allows for a municipality to lead by example and demonstrate its ongoing support for the downtown.
Investments that are designed to meet local needs have seen exciting
transformations
There are many similarities between each of the downtown case studies, yet what works well in one downtown
cannot necessarily be transplanted to another. For example building the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg helped
attract a National Hockey League team, but this is by no means a formula every downtown could rely on when
building an arena. Therefore it is the downtowns that have collaboratively reviewed their aims, goals, limitations and
resources, and designed their investment strategy accordingly, that have seen some of the most significant
transformations. This approach also allows for a long view and an understanding of the interconnections between
various investments that can help sustain momentum in the downtown over time. Similarly, the success of Ottawa’s
and Fredericton’s recently opened Convention Centres and the prospect of one in Halifax are examples of strategic
investment that will accrue long-term gains for their respective cities.
Downtowns are supporting a wide range of new capital projects, yet there
are many challenges to gaining a full picture on performance
When a City makes a major investment it would be ideal if they could have a clear understanding of the impact that
this investment has on their downtown. It would be even better if a City could start to gain an understanding of how
much more beneficial one investment has been over another, or the way that various investments are able to support
each other. This study provides a baseline to begin considering these important issues; however it is acknowledged
that this study has faced many challenges in the collecting capital projects data for each of the downtown case
studies.
More specifically the data underpinning the capital projects information presented in this study has several limitations.
Firstly the data varies in terms of the years collected; the key reason for this is that capital projects are funded over
many years, yet data is often collected as a single line item for the total amount spent on a project, which makes it
difficult to separate out the period being studied. Secondly the types of investments collected vary, which again
6
Canadian Urban Institute. (2011). The New Geography of Office Locations, As Consequences of Business as Usual in the GTA. Retrieved from:
http://www.canurb.com/sites/default/files/reports/2010/TOC_CUI_Report_April2011.pdf. Accessed 2011 October 15.
28